


Complementary Colors

by Enj0ltaiRe



Series: You(th) [2]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: AND DRAMA, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Doctor Eddie, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Getting Back Together, M/M, Man I love drama, Original Character(s), Richie has a daughter, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-03-19 03:07:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13695609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enj0ltaiRe/pseuds/Enj0ltaiRe
Summary: Eddie felt sick. He felt like opening the window and throw himself out of it, but the door was quicker.A man with dark, messy hair stumbled inside his office, wearing a denim jacket, dark jeans and a bright green shirt.Eddie stared at him as if he had just seen a ghost and suddenly he didn't feel like moving at all.(Sequel to "Is There Somewhere")





	1. Damage

**Author's Note:**

> So, as I promised, here's part 2 of the You(th) series!  
> You should really read Is There Somewhere first or this won't make much sense, since there're gonna be a lot of references to that.  
> If you've decided to stick around after that mess and you're reading this: THANK YOU!

“We’re out of coffee.” Eddie said, turning his head to the cat that was happily eating from her bowl. “But you don’t even care, do you?” He sighed, filling up a small pot with water to make himself a tea instead. The cat purred and scraped her side against Eddie’s calves, which always made him smile.

Eddie loved that cat. He had found her in the flat when he moved in, so he had immediately thought that she belonged to the landlord, which turned out to be a wrong assumption. They eventually came to the conclusion that the cat had slipped inside the flat through the window, probably looking for food, and that’s how Eddie got a new flat and adopted a stray cat. She had black, shiny fur and a white mark on her left ear. Her eyes were green and her purr relaxed him to great extents. He had decided to name her Zoe, because he thought it was appropriate black cat name. She seemed to like it.

Or she probably didn’t give a shit.

Eddie made himself a cup of tea, chose a red berries blend and sat down at the kitchen table, resting his head against his open palm.

“Whatcha looking at?” Eddie mumbled, lazily stirring his tea, while the cat sat on the counter, staring at him.

If there was something he passionately hated, was waking up that early in the morning. He hated morning shifts even more than night shifts, hands down. How on earth was he supposed to be productive when the sun hadn’t even rose yet?

He dragged himself to the bathroom and stayed under the shower until the water went cold. He groaned when he wore the shirt backwards and nearly banged his head against the wall when he pumped his pinky finger against the bathtub. That day had definitely started the wrong way, and Eddie wanted nothing more than go straight back to bed and hide under the covers.

Then, his beeper called him from the living room and Eddie stumbled towards it.

**_Where the hell are you? Drag your bubble butt over here. -SW_ **

**_And be prepared to give me details about last night! -SW_ **

Eddie huffed and shoved his it in the back pocket of his trousers.

It was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

When Eddie had decided to take Medicine, he had imagined himself becoming a great, respected person by consequence. Maybe that was because, when he was a little kid, he had always looked up to the doctors. He respected them because they had the ability to cure people when they were ill, almost as if they had superpowers. Little Eddie had always thought that being a doctor was probably the greatest job in the world, full of satisfactions and recognitions.

Then, reality had hit him like a train, and suddenly Eddie wasn’t so thrilled anymore. Eight mothers out of ten thought they knew better than him, and he suddenly felt so sorry for all the doctors that had to deal with Sonia Kaspbrak over the years.

 “There’s a three  years old boy with diarrhea waiting to be visited in your studio.

_Brilliant. Just what I needed on this fine morning._

“Lucas Grady, you remember him?” Eddie nodded and repressed a groan in the back of his throat.“Don’t make that face.” Sam laughed, handing him the medical records and flipping her blond hair back.

Sam was probably his favorite coworker among everyone that worked at the Henry J Carter Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility. She was funny and always brought Eddie a coffee from her daily trip to the nearest Starbucks, which Eddie was insanely grateful for.  
They had met in college, when Eddie was nothing more than a terrified freshman who had forgotten a pen on his first day. Sam lent him one of hers. The ink was black, but the pen was pink and glittery.

Eddie never gave that pen back, but, to be fair, Sam didn’t even ever asked for it.

“How was your date?” She asked as they walked into the elevator. Eddie groaned and pressed the fifth floor button, where the pediatric department was. “That bad?”

“He literally didn’t do anything else than bragging about how the New York Knicks kicked the Boston Celtics asses last Saturday. It was funny for the first five minutes, but after two hours I just wanted to stab him in the eye with my fork.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes and leaning his back against the elevator’s mirror. “When I told him I am a doctor, he asked me if I could have taken a look at the weird spot that appeared on his thigh, which I still think was just an excuse to take his pants off.”

Sam snorted as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail. “Was it a rush?”

“I don’t know, Sam! I didn’t let him take his goddam pants off, for fucks sake.”

“You’re too picky, Eddie.” She winked at him through the mirror reflection and Eddie rolled his eyes.

“I just have very high standards, okay? I know what I want.”

“And what is it that you want?” Sam asked. The elevator’s door slid open and they walked out together.

_Dark hair. Dark eyes. Nicknames. Freckles. Minty tongue. Laughs. Six letters._

Eddie squeezed his eyes shut for a second, pushing those thoughts away. “It’s a long list and there’s a kid with diarrhea waiting for me.”

“Yeah right. I’ll see your bubble butt at lunch.” She rolled her eyes with a wide smile on her pink lips.

“Yeah, and you’re paying for it! You set me up with the horrible basketball dude!”

“I wish you would have least played with _his_ balls!” She bumped into a nurse as she walked backwards and he looked at her with huge, scandalized eyes.

“We’re in the pediatric section, Dr Willow!” He gasped, while she winked.

Eddie laughed as he walked into his office, shaking his head. There was a kid with red patched cheeks and a pout on his lips sitting on his very worried mother’s lap.

“Good morning Mrs Grady. Hey there buddy.” Eddie ruffled the boy’s hair and sat behind his desk, opening the medical file and checking the results of his analysis. “Bad stomachache, uh?” He looked up at Lucas and he nodded slowly, which made Eddie smile in sympathy. “Okay, let’s see what’s going on.”

He picked the boy up and put him on the hospital bed in his studio. He checked his breathing, touched his belly and took a look at his tongue.

“Is he okay, Doctor Kaspbrak?” The woman asked worriedly. She was way too on edge for having a kid in perfect health that had only got a bit of a gastritis. She reminded him of his mother. Eddie took the silicon gloves off and nodded.

“Perfectly so. Too many Halloween candies?” He asked to the boy with a knowing smile, which had him giggle then hide his face in his mom’s arm. “I’m gonna write a prescription for an antibiotic, just in case. If he still feels bad five days from now, take him back here and we’ll check on him again.”

Lucas pointed at the lollipop jar that Eddie had on his desk, giving Eddie his best puppy eyes.

“Can’t do, buddy. You’ll have one when you’ll stop pooping everywhere.” The boy laughed and the mother smiled, relieved.

“Thank you, doctor.” She stood up, putting her son on her hip.

“Keep me updated.” They shook hands and Lucas waved at him on their way out.

Eddie sighed and relaxed against the back of his chair, taking a deep breath and glancing at the lollipop jar. He rarely ate sugars, because, despite being a 28 years old doctor with a degree, a stable job and a flat on his own, he was still scared of dentists from that time his mother told him they could have drilled a hole through his cheek if he moved.

 That day, anyway, he decided that, after the horrible date and the horrible morning he had, he deserved to treat himself.

He opened a red one and tasted the chemical strawberry on his tongue, while his eyes darted to the drawings hanging on his walls. A warm smile curved his lips, because, after all, despite the overbearing mothers, the scoffing fathers, the crying kids and everything else, he loved his job.  
He hadn’t regret his decision of becoming a doctor, not even once in his life. Not even when his mother called him every day, warning him about every kind of germ that he could have encounters with in the hospitals.

“Doctor Kaspbrak?” The same nurse from before knocked and opened the door. “Do you have time for a non scheduled appointment?”

Eddie opened his opened his agenda and gave it a quick check. “Yeah, sure. Who is it?”

The nurse walked in and shook his head. “First time for them here, we don’t have a medical record yet. I was wondering if you could take their case? Doctor Willow is currently in the nursery and Doctor Paige hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Okay, Liam. You can let them in, I’ll take care of it.” He threw the lollipop in the trashcan and stood up, fixing his white coat and pushing his hair back.

The nurse nodded and let a woman holding a girl’s hand in. Eddie smiled at them both. The woman must have been about his age, he noticed. She had long, pink hair, which he found pretty cool, and bright blue eyes. She was beautiful, he could tell that. She was tall and had all the right curves in the right places.

His mother would have probably called her a whore.

She was wearing light wash jeans, black converse and a tight fitting red leather jacket. There was eyeliner on her big eyes and a mole under her left eye.

She was gorgeous. In some way, she reminded him of his high school friend, Beverly. They were stunning in the same charismatic, badass way.

Eddie immediately liked her.

The girl that was squeezing her hand for life had a mop of dark curls on her head and her mother’s eyes. There were freckles scattered on her petit nose and, Eddie noticed with a gloomy feeling in his chest, a little gap between her slightly too big front teeth.

“Good morning, ladies.” He said with a wide, kind smile. “I’m Edward Kaspbrak.” He shook the woman’s hand and then the little girl’s. “I love your outfit.” Eddie said, nudging the girl’s shoulder with his hand and gesturing at her blue overalls. She smiled shyly and hugged her mother’s leg.

“Thank you so much for receiving us, I wasn’t counting on it.” The French accent was a surprise, but pleasing to Eddie’s ears. Her voice was warm, like honey dripping in a cup of tea. “My name is Oliviè, this is Elizabeth.” She ran a hand through her daughter’s curls and smiled up at him.

“Have a seat, please.” Eddie said, gesturing at the two chairs in front of his desk and sitting down as well. “So, I’ve been told that you’ve never been here before.”

“No, exactly. We moved in New York a few months ago, but I’ve got a copy of her medical records and birth certificate and all the documents you may need.” She assured, fumbling with her bag. “They are in French though.”

Eddie took the papers Oliviè was handing him. “I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, but I’ve only seen it through the postcards I’ve received.” He smiled at them and then focused on the girl. “I assume you just want to register her here today?”

“She should also be vaccinated. She’s missing the flu one and the school sent us a reminder.”

Elizabeth groaned and Eddie laughed, nodding. “I know, I know. Don’t worry, it’ll only take a couple of minutes.” He assured her with a wink, which made the girl shot him a suspicious look.

“But it hurts! Jane told me that just the other day!” Her accent wasn’t as strong as her mother’s, but still sounded French to his ears.

“Who is Jane?” Eddie asked, holding her challenging gaze.

“My best friend! She said she cried.”

“Well, why don’t you let me prove your friend Jane wrong? And if I make you cry, you’re allowed to have two lollipops instead of one. What do you say?”

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows and Eddie could swear she looked like someone he used to know. He put her index finger on her chin, thinking about it, and then she nodded.

“Okay then, but I want to hold daddy’s hand while you do it.” She said. Eddie looked at her mother and she sighed and nodded with a roll of her blue eyes.

“He’s on his way. At least I hope he is.” She palmed her face for a brief second and Eddie chuckled.

“I assume your husband is a lot of work.” He said, conversationally. Oliviè smiled and shook his head.

“He’s not my husband.” She clarified and a laugh escaped her lips.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.” Eddie said, but the woman just smiled wider. “How old are you, Elizabeth?”

“Six and a half!” She replied brightly.

Just as he finally looked down at the papers in front of him to give them a proper read, he heard Liam protesting on the other side of the door.

“Sir, you can’t go through without the doctor’s authorization! He’s visiting a patient!” He said, and Eddie recognized his annoyed passive aggressive voice.

“Yes, I _know_ that because _my_ daughter is in there!” Another voice said with a helpless sigh, and Eddie felt the blood freezing in his veins. “So, if you could just let me through, I’d be extremely grateful! Do I have to get on my knees and plead you? Or maybe you want to make a DNA test?”

Eddie felt his hands cold and his face hot as he stared at the papers in front of him.

_Elizabeth Tozier._

He wouldn’t have mistaken that voice among a million other voices, not even after all those years.

“That’s the father.” Oliviè said, smiling as if she was saying ‘yeah, I don’t know how that happened but there we are’.

Eddie felt sick. He felt like opening the window and throw himself out of it, but the door was quicker.

A man with dark, messy hair stumbled inside his office, wearing a denim jacket, dark jeans and a bright green shirt.

Eddie stared at him as if he had just seen a ghost and suddenly he didn't feel like moving at all.

“Daddy!” Elizabeth stood up and ran to him, lifting arms for him to pick her up and jumping up and down.

“Oh.” Liam said, blinking and obviously taken aback by the fact that that man was actually supposed to be there.

“You’re late.” Oliviè sighed, shaking her head, but there was a smile on her lips as the girl wrapped her little arms around his neck.

“Blame the alarm clock, sweetheart.” He said blowing her a kiss.

“How is it always the alarm clock’s fault?”

“I don’t know, you should ask the alarm clock’s labor union.” He grinned.

“What’ a labor union, dad?” Elizabeth asked him, pulling away just slightly to be able to look at him.

She looked so much like him. The same nose, the same hair, the same freckles, the same laugh.

Eddie’s heart ached.

“Something you’ll have to worry about when you’ll be all grown up.” He explained easily.

“I’m sorry, Doctor, this is-“ Oliviè sighed, but Eddie didn’t need an introduction.

“Richie.” Eddie breathed, staring at him.

Only at that point, Richie seemed to acknowledge his presence at all. His eyes went wide and he stared back at him. Eddie could feel his heart beating twenty times faster and his mouth dry.

Richie looked different, and yet the same. It had been eight years since the last time he had seen him, and yet his heart was still racing the same way it did when he was eighteen.

If he closed his eyes, he could steel feel the memory of the last kiss they had shared and the taste of his tears on Richie’s lips. He could remember the recorded voice announcing Richie’s flight and the way he felt like his whole world was going to collapse at his feet.

_“Not a big word, remember? It’s only six letters.”_

He remembered running down whenever the postman rang his doorbell and desperately checking for postcards between the bills. He remembered the nights spent by the phone. He remembered the nights spent crying.

“You know each other?” Oliviè asked, obviously curious.

Richie was still staring at Eddie when he eventually nodded, slowly. “Yeah… Yeah. He’s Eddie.” He said, and that seemed to click something into Oliviè’s head because her eyes went wider and she looked between the two of them with an amazed expression.

“Oh my god.” She said, obviously excited about the whole thing.

Did Richie tell her about him? Were they together? They had a daughter together and they took care of her together, so they _had_ to be together, right? Then why was Oliviè looking at him as if she just had the greatest news of her entire life?

“Who’s Eddie, daddy?” Elizabeth asked, tilting her head to the side.

Richie’s eyes still hadn’t moved from Eddie’s face.

He knew he was blushing and he felt like the biggest of the idiots for that. He felt his eyes burning with tears as he watched Richie slowly put his daughter back to the linoleum floor.

They moved at the same time, almost as if they were attracted by a magnet, and suddenly Richie’s arms were around his shoulders and his own were around Richie’s slim waist.

He smelled just as he remembered and his heart was beating at the same pace it was the last time Eddie had leaned his cheek against his chest. Eddie breathed him in, hugging him tight and closing his eyes.

“Why is daddy hugging the doctor, mom?” Eddie heard Elizabeth asking.

“I think _he_ will tell you why later, mon cherie.”

Eddie heard the smile in Oliviè’s voice.

 


	2. I walk the line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I keep a close watch on this heart of mine  
> I keep my eyes wide open all the time  
> I keep the ends out for the tie that binds  
> Because you're mine, I walk the line  
> I find it very, very easy to be true  
> I find myself alone when each day is through  
> Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
> 
> (Halsey, I walk the line)

_ “No crying, remember?” Richie cupped Eddie’s cheek and kissed his eyes, feeling his wet lashes against his lips. “This is no goodbye.”  _

_ “It feels like one.” Eddie replied, his voice broken as he gripped onto Richie’s jacket for dear life.  _

_ Richie’s long arms wrapped around Eddie’s small frame, holding him and cradling him. He felt tears roll down his own cheeks and he hoped that Eddie wouldn’t notice. “I need to do this, Eds.” _

_ “I know.” Eddie nodded, pressing his forehead against Richie’s chest, taking deep breaths. “I know you do.”  _

_ Richie wondered if the people that walked past them, hurrying towards the security check, had ever had to say such a painful goodbye to someone they loved. _

After the tenth knock on the door, Richie decided that he should have probably woken up. He groaned and pressed his face in the pillow before he pushed himself upright, padding to the front door of his ridiculously small flat. 

“I’m coming!” He called, rubbing his hands on his eyes and making his vision all blurry. He pushed his glasses on his nose and yanked the door open.

“ _ Mon dieu _ , Richard, the third World War could start and you’d sleep through it.” Oliviè sighed, pushing past him and walking in the flat. She was holding Elizabeth’s hand, who was just as sleepy as Richie was. “Look at the mess of this place. How do you even manage to live in here?” Oliviè asked, picking up a sock from the coffee table. 

“My, aren’t you an absolute sunshine today? Came here to delight me with your bright mood?” Richie teased with a smile. He walked towards her, caught her chin between his fingers and kissed her, making Elizabeth groaning in disgust. 

“Have you brushed your teeth yet?” Oliviè asked, pulling away and wrinkling her nose. 

“Absolutely not.” Richie grinned, letting go of her and bending down to pick his daughter up. “Good morning to you too, kiddo.” He kissed her cheek and the girl smiled, resting her head against his shoulder. “I wasn’t expecting you before nine.” 

“It’s nine thirty.” Oliviè sighed, shaking her head and moving to the kitchen. “I’ve got a job interview in 45 minutes, so please give me a hand, okay? Effy has to have breakfast and maybe you could take her to the park later?” 

Richie nodded and sat Elizabeth down at the table, putting a bowl in front of her and filling it with milk and cereals. The little girl dived right into it, eating huge spoonful of cereals with a satisfied expression on her face. 

When Richie turned his head, Oliviè was gesturing at him to follow her to the living room. 

“What’s up, gorgeous?” Richie asked, pushing his glasses back on his nose. 

“Are you okay, Rich?” She asked, her voice soft and her eyes full of worry. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“You know why.” Oliv sighed, looking up at him. “After yesterday.” 

“You mean after I bumped my pinky toe against the bedside table? I’m fine, sweetheart, it wasn’t that bad.” Richie said easily.

“After you saw him again.” She replied, a little annoyed by Richie’s attitude. “After you saw Eddie again.” 

At the mere mention of his name, Richie’s heart flipped in his chest and his hands flew to his eyes, rubbing them hard. “Do we have to talk about it?” Richie groaned, flopping down on the couch and glancing at the kitchen, making sure that Effy wasn’t adding any sugar to the cereals. 

“I am okay, Oli. Sure, I am surprised. I mean, I haven’t seen him in eight years and I find him in one of the biggest cities of the world, which is weird, but I’m okay. I’m not going to cry myself to sleep every night from now on, if that’s what you’re really asking.” Richie said, and Oliviè sat on the couch next to him, looking everything but convinced. 

“Do you remember what you told me the first night we met?” She asked, crossing her legs and looking at him with her eyebrows raised. 

“I was pretty drunk, sweetheart, the only thing I remember from that night was that you paid for the taxi.” Richie said with a smirk, making her chuckle and shake her head, because they both knew that wasn’t true. 

“You told me that you were going to come home with me, but never to love me.” 

Richie turned his head to look at her. “Well, I was wrong.” 

“You know what I mean, Richie. And you know what you meant back then. Loving someone as you love a family member or a friend isn’t the same as being  _ in  _ love.”

“It’s not like you’re in love with me.” 

“Fuck no.” Oliviè laughed, leaning against him and kissing his cheek. “I’ve been in love with you for about a week before I realized that I was definitely a lesbian and you were a hopeless case, anyway.” 

Richie kissed the top of her hair and rested his head against hers. “What has this to do with Eddie?” 

“You tell me.” She took Richie’s hand and played with his fingers, distractedly. “I’ve known you for almost seven years, Rich. You’re my family, my daughter’s father and my best friend and ever since the day I met you I knew that you were in love. Then, you told me everything, and six years later I can still see it in your eyes. You should have seen the look on your face him when you saw him.” She reached up with a hand and cupped his cheek. “The universe is giving you another chance."

“Don’t use your yoga, mystic bullshit with me, woman. The universe does its job at keeping the planets and stars in place and that’s it. It doesn’t give a shit about what we do down here.” 

“Daddy said shit, mom.” Effy said, giggling just like a little girl that heard a swear world would have. 

Oliviè looked at Richie with a glare. “If she repeats it at school, you’ll go to the meeting with the teachers.” She deadpanned. 

Effy climbed down the chair and ran towards them, smiling wide. Richie grabbed her and pulled her on his lap, ticking her stomach and making her laugh. “What’s the universe, mom?” She asked, leaning her head against Richie’s chest. 

Olivie touched her little nose with a smile. “The ruler of our lives.” She said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. 

“But it can’t be!” Elizabeth protested, raising a finger. “We use rulers to draw straight lines, not lives.” 

Richie grinned, satisfied, and kissed his daughter’s hair. “See? She’s definitely mine.” 

 

* * *

 

“Dad?” 

“Yes, bug?” 

“What’s a lesbian?” Richie raised his eyebrows and looked down at the girl that was standing next to him on the sidewalk, waiting for the green light. The woman next to them shot Richie a disgusted look and shook her head. Richie wished his daughter wasn’t there, so he could have flipped her off. 

“Where is this coming from?” Richie asked. The green light lighted up and they crossed the road. 

“Mom said that she is a lesbian and you’re a hopeless case.” Effy replied easily, jumping on the white stripes on the road. Richie recalled the conversation he was having with Oliviè in on the couch and hummed. 

“She was kidding about the hopeless case. I’m not a hopeless case.” He defended himself. 

“But what’s a lesbian?” Effy asked again, looking up at Richie. 

“It’s a woman that loves other women.” Richie answered easily. “A woman that wants to have girlfriends instead of boyfriends.” 

“Can boys be lesbians?” The girl asked, not particularly impressed by the notion. 

“Boys are homosexuals.” Richie explained, trying to keep it as simple as possible. 

“So mom wants to have girlfriends?” 

“Exactly.” 

“Then why doesn’t she have one?” Richie was used to Elizabeth’s endless stream of questions. She had always been curious, ever since she was old enough to move a little bit more freely. She would grab anything she could reach and put it in her mouth, examine it, stare at it for entire minutes and staring at the edges. Richie found it endearing until she put a coin in her mouth and swallowed it. 

“Because she’s not looking for one at moment. A woman doesn’t need a love story to feel fulfilled. Remember it. Girls are powerful.” He grinned at her and Elizabeth grinned back. 

“What about boys?” 

“Boys are a mess, bug.” He chuckled, shaking his head and sighing. “We act all tough, but we don’t know what we’re doing half of the time.” Effy hummed and went quiet for a couple of seconds.

“Where are we going?” Richie bit his lower lip.

He knew it was a bad idea. The worst idea he probably ever had in his entire life, or one of the top three, anyway. Going back to the hospital was definitely a bad idea. He didn’t know if Eddie was working, if he had the day off. He didn’t know if Eddie wanted to see him, or see him with his daughter. 

The previous day, after the initial shock, Eddie had went back to his professional self, clearing his throat and turning his attention to Elizabeth and Richie, going back to be his idiotic self, had left the room without saying a word. 

Which had probably been a dick move, thinking about it.

He knew that he should have texted him, maybe called him, asking if it was okay with him if he stopped by, but Richie had never been too keen on following social rules. 

And he needed to see Eddie again. He felt it like an ache in his chest, the same ache he had tried to ignore and get over from since the past six years. 

“To visit an old friend of mine.” 

 

* * *

 

“Is Doctor Kaspbrak working today?” Richie asked to the woman behind the information point’s counter.

She opened an agenda and hummed. “Do you have an appointment, sir?” 

“No, no, I don’t. We don’t need one, actually, we’ve been here just yesterday. I just wanted to say hello. We’re old friends.” Richie explained. 

The woman, a very unimpressed woman in her thirties that was aggressively chewing a gum, closed the agenda. “Sorry sir, I can’t let you through if you don’t have an appointment.” She deadpanned. Richie wondered how many times she repeated the same thing everyday. 

“Come on, it’s just a friendly visit. Please? Look, I really do know him.” He said. The secretary popped the gum. 

“Sorry sir, I can’t let you through if you don’t have an appointment.” She repeated flatly, making Richie groan. 

He took his wallet out of his pocket and slammed a twenty dollars bill on the counter. She took the bill and slid it in the front pocket of her white coat, still looking up at Richie with an expressionless face. 

“So? Are we good?” 

“Sorry sir, I can’t let you through if you don’t have an appointment.” She repeated for the third time, making Richie groan so loud everyone in the close ten feet turned to look at him.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Give me my money back!” Richie protested, but she only popped her gum again. 

“Daddy, you said fucking!” Elizabeth said, tugging his sleeve. 

“Richie?” Richie turned his head and saw Eddie standing in the middle of the hall with a Starbucks cup in his hand and a frown on his face. “What are you doing here?” 

Richie looked between the receptionist and Eddie and gestured towards him. “See? I told you!” He took Effy’s hand and walked up to Eddie. “That girl’s a bitch. She let me corrupt her, I’m just saying.” 

Eddie looked at him in confusion. “Why were you corrupting the receptionist?” He asked, looking between the two of them. 

“She wouldn’t let me go through! I came to see you.” Richie explained, throwing his hands to the ground. 

“Okay, calm down.” Eddie grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. “Richie, I work here. You can’t come here and corrupt the staff just because you want to see me. Plus, why didn’t you text me?” He asked, keeping his voice low. 

“I just thought I could have made you a surprise.” Richie said with a wide, uncomfortable grin on his face. “Look, I’m not here to make a scene, I don’t want to get you into trouble. I  _ really  _ just wanted to see you.” 

Eddie went silent for a moment, looking up at him in the eyes. “Well, now you’ve seen me.”

“Can we talk?” 

“About what?” 

Richie chewed on his lower lip, thinking about what he should have said. What did he want them to talk about? He opened his mouth, but Effy was faster. She tugged Eddie’s white coat and looked up at him with huge eyes. 

Eddie blinked and looked down at the girl, clearing his throat. “Yes, sweetheart?” 

“Do you know what a lesbian is?” Effy asked with a wide smile and curious eyes. 

Richie buried his face between his hands and groaned, while Eddie flushed red and looked at Richie with a startled expression on his face. 

“It’s a new word she learned today.” Richie said, as a miserable explanation. “Now she wants to teach it to someone.” 

“Oh.” Eddie said, clearing his throat. “Well, uhm, what is a lesbian?” He asked, playing along. 

“It’s a girl who wants a girlfriend.” Elizabeth said with a satisfied expression on her face. “Daddy, can I be a lesbian?” She asked, looking up at Richie. 

“You can be whatever you wanna be, bug.” Richie said, then frowned a little. “Apart from a nazi, a racist, a homophobe, a Trump supporter and a serial killer.” 

He heard Eddie chuckle and looked at him. His features were more relaxed and he had an amused smile on his face, which he was trying to tame by sinking his teeth on his lower lip. Richie’s heart fluttered at the sight of Eddie’s smile. 

“What’s a Trump, dad?” Effy asked, clueless and confused. 

“Something really,  _ really  _ bad, bug.” 

Eddie laughed again, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. “Richie, I have to go back to work.” He said, tugging gently one of Effy’s curls and making her giggle. 

“What time does your shift end?” Richie immediately asked. 

“Richie…” Eddie sighed, without meeting his eyes. 

“ _ Please _ .” Richie took a step towards him and Eddie looked up, meeting his eyes. Richie felt his stomach tight and his heart running as fast as a racing horse.  


“At nine.” Eddie eventually said, quietly, without breaking eye contact with him. 

“I’ll pick you up."

“Please don’t.” Eddie said in almost a whisper, but Richie knew him better. 

He grinned and took Effy’s hand, walking backwards. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye bye doctor!” Elizabeth waved, following her dad. 

“Bye bye…” Eddie breathed, leaning with his shoulder against the white wall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is probably shit because :) nothing :) happens :) But you know, we're getting there! I'm really excited about the next chapter because there will! be! a! confrontation!   
> Thank you so much for the overwhelming response the first chapter got! I'm freaking speechless. 
> 
> Leave a comment? They feed my family <3


	3. Borrowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tell me, how can a heavy heart be so empty?  
> You left all your baggage on my step  
> When you went and left me  
> I'm sorry, darling  
> I know he's yours  
> I know you make him breakfast  
> And fit between his arms  
> Tonight I'm borrowing my perfect man  
> I'm borrowing your broken love
> 
> (Halsey, Borrowing)

“When you said that you were going to pick me up, I didn’t think that you was going to take me on a date.” Eddie said, with his eyes fixed on the menu and his brows slightly furrowed. 

He had been on edge all day, checking the clock every other minute and sighing way more frequently than he usually did. And Eddie used to sigh quite a lot.    


“So this  _ is  _ a date.” Richie grinned, which made Eddie roll his eyes and sigh again. 

Being in a restaurant, side by side in a booth, with a candle lit up on the table and two full glasses of red wine certainly felt like a date, but that was Richie. 

Richie. 

His ex boyfriend who had a daughter and probably a girlfriend? Eddie closed his eyes for a brief moment at the thought. He had a lot of questions, and he wouldn’t have allowed himself to make any assumptions until he got the answers. 

Richie had a daughter, yes. A beautiful, smart daughter that looked like him and smiled like him. There was a woman in Richie’s life, an equally beautiful and smart woman that he was probably romantically involved with.

Probably. 

He didn’t know for sure. He knew that he called her sweetheart, that they had a daughter they were raising together. He knew that they weren’t married, but that didn’t mean much. Thousands of couples raised kids together and shared lives without getting married. Getting married was an extra, an old fashioned tradition. Thinking about it, Richie and Oliviè looked like that extra couple all the other couples envy because they’re young, beautiful, they’re not married and they probably have hot, steamy sex in the kitchen while their daughter sleeps in her pretty room. 

Richie and Oliviè.

Eddie wrinkled his nose and put the menu down, taking a long sip from his glass of wine and avoiding Richie’s eyes. It wasn’t a date, Eddie needed to keep reminding himself that. Richie was probably going to go back home to a beautiful, gorgeous girlfriend that was going to make him feel good all night long. 

This was two old friends taking their time to catch up. 

“You know what I meant, you ass. Don’t try to make this weird.” Eddie said, setting the glass aside and daring to glance at Richie. 

He was wearing his glasses low on the nose, which was still dusted with those freckles Eddie used to kiss. His hair was still a mess, a beautiful, bouncy mess that smelled like fresh soap. He was smiling, and Eddie noticed that his front teeth were still slightly too big, just like they had always been. Eddie was glad Richie didn’t have them fixed. It was still Richie, but at the same time, it wasn’t. 

This was an older Richie. A Richie that wore his glasses instead of contacts because he had probably spent months, maybe years, falling asleep with his contacts in, too tired to care, and had decided to go back to his thick rimmed, old glasses. 

A Richie that didn’t wear eyeliner anymore, which made his eyes appear more soft and kind, instead of sharp and mysterious. This was a Richie that wore light wash jeans and bright colors, that kept a photo of his daughter in his wallet and that smiled. A lot. 

This was the happiest Eddie had ever seen him. 

The thought made him sad. Not because he didn’t want Richie to be happy, fuck no. He had been waiting for years to see that look in Richie’s eyes. 

No, he was sad because he had never managed to make him look like that. Even when Richie swore that being with him was the best thing that had ever happened to him, meaning it, he had never looked like that. 

“I’m not trying to make this weird, how dare you? You said it was a date.” 

“Not a romantic date!” Eddie protested, palming his face. 

“Who the hell goes on friendly dates?” Richie chuckled, looking at him with an amused frown.

“A lot of people. I go on friendly dates all the time.” Eddie shot back, glaring at him. 

“So is this a friendly date?” Richie asked, and Eddie immediately nodded. 

“Yes. Friendly. Civil. We’re just going to talk.” Eddie clarified, folding his arms on his chest. 

“Really? That’s too bad. I was planning on giving you a blowjob under the table.” Richie laughed, and Eddie flushed red. 

Richard fucking Tozier. 

“Shut up, Richie, oh my god!” Eddie hissed, slapping Richie’s shoulder while his cheeks burned hot. “You’re disgusting.

“Am I? Because I recall you begging me not to st-”

“Alright!” Eddie cut him off, clapping his hands and downing the rest of his glass of wine. “Is there a reason why you brought me here? Or are you just going to make me uncomfortable the whole time with stupid sex jokes?” 

Richie cleared his throat and glanced down at his own glass. “Sorry. I guess I’m nervous.” Richie said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“You’re nervous?” 

“I’m allowed. I’m having dinner with my ex boyfriend after eight years.” They looked at each other and both of them sighed. Eddie sighed harder. 

“What the hell are we doing here, Rich?” Eddie asked, turning his head to look at him properly. “I mean… in front of a candle, wine, fancy food.” 

“I thought you loved fancy food.” Richie said with a smile, which made Eddie smile as well. 

“I loved many things.” 

“Me included?” Richie asked, and Eddie watched as he caught his lower lip between his teeth for a second. 

Eddie’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes shifted closed for a brief moment. “More than anything else in the world.” Eddie replied, sincerely, looking up at him. 

Richie looked startled, which made Eddie question if he had ever made it clear enough how much Richie meant to him. 

_ “I’ve bought the ticket.” Richie said out of the blue, while Eddie was bent down on his essay. “This morning.” _

_ Eddie closed the laptop and turned to look at him, eyes suddenly wide. “I thought you were going to wait a few more weeks.” He said quietly, standing up, only to sit back down on Richie’s lap. “I thought-" _

_ “Eds." _

_ “I know.” Eddie leaned his head down to rest his forehead against Richie’s. “I know. Travel the world, find yourself. That’s the plan, right?” He raised a hand up and cupped Richie’s cheek, brushing their lips together.  _

_ “That’s the plan.” Richie murmured, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist and pressing their lips together. “I wish you could come with me.”  _

_ “I can’t drop out of college, Rich. You know I can’t.” Eddie sighed, closing his eyes.  _

_ “I know, I’m not asking you to.”  _

“You never asked me.” Eddie said, and Richie frowned. “You never asked me to come with you.”

The look on Richie’s face made Eddie knew that he knew exactly what he was talking about. 

“I knew you would have said no. You were in college, living your dream. I worked in a shitty pub. I couldn’t spend the rest of your time there sneaking into your dorm like a stray dog.”

“You could have accepted the scholarship the NYU sent you.” Eddie pointed out. 

“And then what? We would have been parted anyway.” Richie sighed, rubbing his eyes under the specs of his glasses. “And I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to see the world and try to find out what I really wanted.” 

Something inside Eddie stung. “I thought I was what you wanted.” 

“You know what I mean, so don’t you dare assume that it was easy for me.” Eddie took the napkin off of his lap and threw it on the table. 

“You had a daughter!” Eddie said, maybe too loudly, since the people around them turned their heads to stare. 

He didn’t care. 

“So that automatically implies that I had the most amazing time?” Richie asked, trying to keep his voice down. 

“Doesn’t it?” Eddie snapped, feeling his heart hammer in his chest. 

Richie stood up, took the wallet out of his pocket and left a fifty dollars bill on the table. Eddie blinked, looking up at him. 

“Where are you going?” Eddie ran a hand through his hair, looking lost for a moment. He had let the anger he had tried to push aside for all those years take over him, and he hated himself for that. 

He wasn’t mad at Richie. He wasn’t angry at him for fucking someone else after their break up. 

He was upset because no matter how far Richie had went, no matter how many years passed, no matter how many hook ups their beds had witnessed, no matter how many lies Eddie tried to tell himself: he was always going to be Richie’s, even when Richie wasn’t his. 

“Rich, please, I-” 

“Let’s go.” Richie said, turning to look at him and holding his hand out to him.

Eddie blinked, taken aback. “Where?” 

“Where we can get loud and no one will notice.”

 

* * *

 

Eddie had been to clubs before. He wasn’t a big fan, if had to be completely honest. He didn’t like the loud music, the sweaty bodies all pressed up together, the flashing lights that were probably invented just to mess with people’s dioptres.

Right then and there, he didn’t mind that much. He didn’t mind the lights and the music, because it was so loud he couldn’t even hear himself think, which was probably for the best, otherwise that little voice in his head might have told him that it was definitely a bad idea having Richie’s pressed up against his back, holding his hips while they both swayed at the rhythm of the music. 

But the music was loud, and Eddie couldn’t hear that little, annoying, reasonable voice. 

He knew they were supposed to sit down and have a long talk, but right now Eddie didn’t really feel like talking. He felt like bury his hands into Richie’s hair and kiss him senseless, making him feel how much he had missed him. 

Eddie had never been to that club. Sam had dragged him to a few before, pleading him to be nice and not glare at anyone who would have came up to him, and Eddie had usually complained the whole time. He usually complained about the cheap drinks that tasted like chemicals, about the smell of sweat and the handsy dudes that got too audacious around him, about the sticky floor and the smell in the bathrooms. 

That club was the nicest he had ever been to, but he was probably biased. Any place in the world would have looked nice if he had Richie by his side. 

Or behind his back, grinding against him. 

They had a few drinks. 

Maybe one too many. 

Eddie had ordered the kind of sweet drinks that he got usually teased for. The kind of sweet drinks that leave your tongue feel like a melted candy, your teeth a bit sore and your head funny. 

Eddie tilted his head back against Richie’s shoulder, closing his eyes and enjoying the rumbling of the loud music in his chest. Richie’s arms wrapped around his torso, bringing him even closer, and he felt Richie’s breath against his neck, which gave him goosebumps all over. 

Richie’s arms were around his middle, his face was buried in the crook of his neck and Eddie was hard in his jeans. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t care. It had been  _ years  _ since the last time Eddie had been held by Richie and, damn, it felt good. It felt like being home. 

Eddie felt like, if he hadn’t been so cheerfully tipsy, he could have cried. He wanted to tell Richie. He wanted to let him know that their time together had been, in fact, short. But it had been the best time of his life.

But Richie wouldn’t have heard him because of the music, and Eddie didn’t really want to change their position. 

Richie’s hands were big and warm, just as he remembered them. He smelled like laundry soap and a bit like alcohol, and Eddie wanted that smell all over him. Forever. 

If he wasn’t drunk, he would had called himself pathetic, but then Richie’s hands squeezed his hips tighter and Eddie could feel the outline of his hard cock pressing against his ass and his mouth watered because, holy shit, he had missed that feeling.  

He had missed a lot of things, actually. 

Richie was breathing against his skin and Eddie wondered how did they ended up there. They were sitting at the counter, having a drink, trying to make it comfortable for the both of them, and suddenly they were on the dance floor, grinding against each other like horny teenagers. 

“Rich, I can’t breathe…” Eddie whined. It was so damn hot in that club that Eddie wondered if they had the heating turned all the way up. Was it even legal? Or did he feel hot because his ex boyfriend was doing wonders with his hands on his body? 

“What?” Richie asked over the loud music. 

“I can’t breathe!” Eddie repeated louder motioning with his hand towards his chest. 

Richie quickly grabbed his hand and elbowed anyone who was in the way of the exit, leading him out. Once they were outside, in the open, chilly air, Eddie took a deep breath and tilted his head back, letting the cool breeze wash over his sweaty face. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Richie asked, cupping Eddie’s cheeks with his large hands. 

Eddie opened his eyes, slowly, and met Richie’s gaze, smiling lazily. “I’m good.” 

“Fuck, you scared the shit out of me.” Richie said, letting out a breathy chuckle and letting go of Eddie’s face. 

Eddie whined and got closer to him, putting his hands behind Richie’s neck, were his hair was damp with sweat and sticking to his skin. “Sorry.” He mumbled with a giggle. His head was spinning and he didn’t care. 

“Are you good, babe?” Richie asked, putting his hands on Eddie’s waist and making his heart swell at the pet name. 

“M’just peachy.” He grinned. “You’re beautiful.” He cupped Richie’s face with his hand and stroked his cheekbone with his thumb. “So, so, so beautiful.” 

“You’re so, so, so beautiful as well.” Richie hummed, leaning into Eddie’s touch and leaned in to press a kiss on Eddie’s lips. 

That, somehow, brought him back to the reality of things. 

Richie was about to kiss him, which meant that he was probably going to cheat on his girlfriend, and no, Eddie wasn’t going to stand for it. They had a daughter, for fuck’s sake, and the least thing Eddie wanted to be was a homewrecker. He couldn’t let Richie screw his family up because of him. He couldn’t let him slip like that, not even if they were drunk or tipsy or whatever. 

He quickly pulled away, and Richie stared at him with hurt painted all over his face. He looked like he had just been slapped, which made Eddie’s heart ache in his chest. 

“Sorry, I thought-”

“We can’t, Richie.” Eddie said, shaking his head. “We can’t do it.” 

“I thought you felt the same way.” Richie sounded wounded. 

Eddie wanted to cry. 

“It doesn’t matter how I feel.” He sighed, rubbing his palms on his eyes as tears started to well up in them. “You can’t do it to Oliviè. It’s not fair.” He reasoned, taking another step back. 

Richie frowned. “Oliviè?” He asked, sounding genuinely confused. 

“Yes! Oliviè! Your daughter’s mother. I’m not going to be a homewrecker and let you cheat on your girlfriend, Richie. I’m not like that.” He said, folding his arms on his chest.

Richie’s frown fell and an amused grin spread on his flushed cheeks. “Girlfriend?” He asked, taking a step towards him. “She is not my girlfriend, Eds. She’s my daughter’s mother, yes, but no. Not my girlfriend.” 

Oh. 

_ Oh. _

That changed things. 

That changed a lot of things, actually. 

Eddie blinked rapidly, looking up at Richie and figuring out what his next move should be. 

“Really, you could have just as-” Eddie cut Richie off by winding his arms around his neck and crashing their lips together, which made Richie’s eyes go comically wide and his hands stutter in the air around Eddie’s body before he finally wrapped his arms around the shorter man’s waist, almost lifting him up from the ground. 

Eddie was ecstatic. Richie’s lips fitted against his just perfectly. Just like he remembered them to. Richie tasted like the last drink he had had, which was bittersweet on his tongue, and Eddie loved it. He loved it so much he needed to get more of it, so he licked into Richie’s mouth, cupping each side of Richie’s face between his hands and kissing him like his life depended on it.    
“Do you want to go back to my place?” Richie asked, a little breathless, making something stir in Eddie’s guts. 

“Yes.” Eddie immediately said, nodding his head fast. 

They could talk the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boi 
> 
> Leave a comment and make my day? :') 
> 
> Also thank you all so much for the love and support I receive here and on tumblr! luv u


	4. Eyes closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would've gave it all for you, cared for you  
> So tell me where I went wrong  
> Would've gave it all for you, cared for you  
> (My lover, my liar)  
> Would've trade it all for you, there for you  
> So tell me how to move on  
> Would've trade it all for you, cared for you  
> (My lover, my liar)
> 
> (Halsey, Eyes Closed)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am awful and I'm sorry this sucks and it also took me so long to update ):)

They stumbled into Richie’s apartment pulling at each other’s clothes.

Eddie felt as if he was stuck in a bubble, a beautiful bubble where time and space didn’t exist, where the only thing that kept him anchored to reality was the taste of alcohol on Richie’s tongue and his big, warm hands all over his body.

The apartment smelled good. It smelled like Richie and kid’s fruity shampoo, and Eddie couldn’t have had enough of it, because he was at Richie’s place, in Richie’s living room, pressed against Richie’s wall.

Eddie yanked his shirt over his broad shoulders, taking a moment to admire Richie’s taut body before he attached his mouth to his collarbone. Truth was, that if Richie had been handsome in school, Eddie found him absolutely breathtaking, because now he was a _man_.

And god, Eddie loved men.

He was taller than he remembered, his shoulders were broader and his arms less gangly. He wasn’t exactly muscular, but Eddie could definitely see his biceps flex each time Richie grabbed at him. His teenage forms had disappeared, leaving a toned, slightly more tanned body behind. Eddie felt small between Richie’s arms, but at the same time he felt ten feet tall.

Eddie was between Richie’s arm.

“I’ve missed you so fucking much.” Richie breathed against his lips, getting rid of Eddie’s shirt as well.

Eddie grabbed each side of Richie’s face and pressed their lips together firmly, pushing his tongue inside of Richie’s mouth and earning a soft moan and the hands that were on  his hips found their way to his ass, giving it a squeeze.

“Fuck, Richie, baby-“ Eddie whined, moving his own hands to the front of his lover’s jeans, palming at the outline of Richie’s rock hard cock.

Richie groaned and tilted his head back, which gave Eddie the opportunity to mouth at his neck and throat.

“I want to suck you. Can I suck you off?” He asked against his skin, gazing his teeth on Richie’s collarbone.

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Eddie dropped to his knees, looking up to see Richie’s dark, lust filled eyes staring back at him. He smiled up at him, biting his lower lip teasingly before he turned his attention to the zipper of Richie’s skinny jeans. He pulled them down along with his briefs and watched as his cock sprung free, hard and long and glorious. “Oh god…” He breathed over it, gripping Richie’s hips and giving it a small kitten lick. “I forgot how fucking big you are.”

Richie cupped the back of Eddie’s head, tangling his fingers with those soft, brown curls, but didn’t do anything apart from cradling his head. He didn’t push nor pull and Eddie should have known that he hadn’t changed one bit: that he was still the same gentle, attentive lover.

Eddie loved giving blowjobs.

Each time he had found himself with a bittersweet weight on his tongue he couldn’t have helped feeling smug about it. He felt powerful, he felt like the other’s pleasure depended on him and he had the power and the control over the situation. It was dirty, as his mother would have said, and with each blowjob he had given during his life he had added an extra _fuck you_ to his mother to the list.

_Dirty, dirty boy, doing things that only dirty boys would do._

_Fuck you._

He opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around the head of Richie’s leaking cock.

Richie moaned and the grip of his fingers tightened between Eddie’s hair, much to his delight. He still remembered all the sweet spots that made Richie tremble and shudder, but he was also eager to find the new ones.

He soon discovered that Richie particularly enjoyed it if Eddie sucked the thick vein on the underside of his cock, that a flick of tongue on the slit would send him to heaved and that a good deepthroating would have sent him to the stars.

“Fuck- Eds, holy shit.” Richie’s head was thrown back and his chest was heaving.

Eddie pulled away and licked away the thin line of spit and precome that connected his lips to the head of Richie’s cock. He tried to catch his breath and Richie looked down at him.

“Are you okay?”

Eddie nodded, still breathing heavily, and suddenly wished he had his inhaler with him. “It ain’t easy being wheezy.”

Richie burst into laughter and Eddie grinned, because the sound of Richie’s laugh was so beautiful and so heartwarming that Eddie couldn’t help but feel like he was a teenager again.

A lovesick teenager.

Richie, with a giggle still on his lips, helped Eddie up to his feet and lifted him up. Eddie wrapped his legs around Richie’s bare waist and kissed him as he carried him to the bedroom.

There were no photographs in Richie’s room. Eddie remembered that Richie had a lot of posters and polaroids sticking on the walls, but grown up Richie had green, bare walls. He was neater than he used to be, but Eddie figured that having a child probably changes you on levels that he couldn’t understand.

He felt his back hitting the mattress and then it was all Richie.

Richie’s scent on the sheets, Richie’s mouth on his, Richie’s hands on him, Richie’s body on his.

They rolled between the sheets sharing open mouthed kisses and getting rid of all the clothes that were left on their bodies.

“You’ve got broader.” Eddie muttered against the skin of Richie’s cheek as he trailed his hands on his shoulders.

“Is that a good thing?” Richie was grinding down against him, sending shivers and waves of pleasure all over his body.

“God yes. You are gorgeous, Rich. The daddy look is great on you.” Eddie chuckled, slotting their lips together and moving his hands to cup his cheeks.

“The doctor look is great on you.” They chuckled together and kissed again.

Eddie had never been so comfortable between the sheets with anyone else in his entire life. He had never experienced such intimacy with anyone apart from Richie.

And maybe that was how it was always going to be: no matter how far away they were going to be, they were always going to find their way back to each other and all the years, all the tears weren’t going to matter anymore. No mile, no fight, no nothing could have changed what Eddie felt for Richie. If eight years hadn’t managed to erase his feelings, he doubted that anything else could have.

Being naked with Richie and having their warm bodies pressed together felt like coming home. Even though he had never been between those walls, he felt safe.

They never stopped kissing, not even when Richie reached for the nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lube, slicked his fingers up and started rubbing the pad of his middle finger against Eddie’s hole, teasing and testing the waters. Eddie clutched Richie’s shoulders, spreading his legs a little wider and lifting his hips up.

“You’re so fucking stunning, you know that, right? I could look at you for hours without getting tired.” Richie’s praises sounded like warm honey to Eddie’s ears, and he couldn’t help a whine to escape his lips when Richie pushed past the ring of muscle and started fingering him open, slowly and carefully. There was a crease between his brows and a pearl of sweat that was running down his temple and Eddie could read how focused he was all over his face. He could see how he was imposing himself to take it slowly, to hold back his instincts and make sure that Eddie wasn’t going to feel any pain and Eddie loved him so much. He loved him when he kissed the moans from his mouth, he loved him when he added a second finger and then a third and he loved him when he started kissing down his neck, whispering sweet nonsense into his skin.

“Richie- Oh, god, Rich, stop, stop, stop!” Eddie swatted Richie’s  hand away when the tight coil in his lower abdomen was becoming almost too much.

Richie pulled his fingers out with an alarmed expression on his face. “What? Did I hurt you?”

Eddie shook his head fast, breathing heavily and running a hand through his sweaty curls. “No, but I was about to come and I don’t  want it to be over yet.” He replied with a breathy voice, smiling up at him with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. “So you better fuck me right now.” He added in a lower voice, right into Richie’s ear.

The other man shuddered and his grip on Eddie’s hips tightened so much that there were probably going to be bruises.

“Richie-“ Eddie kissed him, because he could. Richie rolled a condom on his stiff cock and gave it a couple of strokes with his lube slicked hand.

“I’ve got you, baby.”

“I’ve missed you.”

_I love you._

Richie sunk into him slowly, knocking the breath out of Eddie’s lungs.

He felt full, almost too full, and Richie was rock hard and thick and long inside him and Eddie was sure that if he had stretched his arm up he could have touched a star with the tip of his index finger.

Eddie’s legs felt like jelly and his brain must have melted in his head, because there was no other explanation for the state of Nirvana Eddie was experiencing.

Richie was heavy and light on top of him, his cock inside him was almost too much, but not enough.

A string of curses left Eddie’s mouth as Richie started thrusting inside him, building up a pace and gripping the headboard of his bed for leverage. His curls were sticking to his forehead and his freckles were hiding behind the flush of his cheeks.

Eddie lifted a leg up and hooked it around Richie’s waist, changing the angle and screaming out in pleasure as the pressure against his prostate became almost constant. Richie was fucking him like Eddie hadn’t been fucked in a long time and he was loving it. He loved every single inch of flesh that pounded him, he loved every puff of breath that Richie breathed against his face and the moans that were leaving his lover’s mouth.

“Fuck, fuck, Eds, oh fuck-“

“More!” Eddie cried, scraping his nails down Richie’s back and making him groan. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!” There were tears in his eyes, both of pleasure and emotions.

Richie slammed into him harder and faster, reaching between their bodies to grasp Eddie’s neglected cock and stroking him in time with his relentless thrusts. “You feel so good, fuck, baby, you feel amazing. You’re so fucking tight, so fucking warm-“

“I’m gonna come, Rich, I’m so close!” Eddie bit Richie’s shoulder and sucked a mark on the junction between his neck and his shoulder. “I’m coming, oh god, oh god- Baby, don’t stop! I’m coming!” He cried out in pure bliss and pleasure as waves of pleasures made his vision go blurry and his body tense up. Ropes of cum shot out of his cock, coating his abdomen and Richie’s hand, in what was the best and hardest orgasm that he had experienced in a long while.

He was shaking in pleasure and Richie was still fucking into him, chasing his own release and keeping his gaze fixed on Eddie’s face. “Eddie, you should see yourself right now, you- oh god.”

Eddie lazily reached up and touched Richie’s swollen lips with the tip of his fingers. “Come for me, baby…” He breathed, and Richie moaned loudly.

Only three thrusts after, Richie stilled inside him, buried deep and crying Eddie’s name out, and suddenly he didn’t feel as hard as before.

Eddie smiled, blessed out, and let Richie collapse down on him to catch his breath. He ran his fingers on his back, soothing the scratches his nails had made and kissing Richie’s sweaty temple. “Eight years later, you still manage to rock my world.”

Richie grinned and peppered Eddie’s lids and cheeks with lazy kisses. “You’re welcome.”

 

* * *

 

 

The following morning, Eddie woke up to the sun peaking from the blinds. It took him just a second to recall where he was and what had happened, and he couldn’t help a sleepy smile to curve his lips.

His skin was still fresh from the shower they had the night before, and Richie’s body smelled like Marseilles soap next to his. Richie was sleeping on his stomach, with half of his face buried in the pillow and the waistband of his boxers low on his narrow hips. Eddie bit his lower lip and observed his sleeping form, enjoying how young and relaxed he looked in his sleep before he kissed his freckled shoulder and stood up, silently padding to the kitchen. He was wearing only his briefs, but he found Richie’s shirt on the couch in the living room and wore it.

He felt almost too much at home as he turned the coffee machine on and took some orange juice out of the fridge.

He had slept with Richie. He had slept with his ex boyfriend who was also a father and with whom he still needed to talk.

And he felt good.

He felt bright and glowing and he couldn’t stop smiling, so maybe yes, he had gone back to the lovesick teenager state.

The coffee machine beeped when it was done brewing and Eddie turned it off, pouring the coffee into two mugs he had found near the sink. He was just about to walk back to the bedroom, when a knock on the door startled him.

He considered waking Richie up, but his instinct worked faster than his brain. He ran to the door and unlocked it.

On the other side, looking almost as she had just rolled out of a spa and not of bed, was standing Olivié, holding Elizabeth’s hand and with her perfect eyebrows raised.

“Dr Kaspbrak.” She said, blinking rapidly. “I, uh, have we interrupted something?”

“No!” Eddie immediately said, shaking his head vigorously and feeling hot in the face. “No, no, of course not! I was just-“ He pointed at the kitchen, clearing his throat. “Coffee.”

“I’d love some coffee.” Olivié  smiled bright and walked past him into the flat.

Eddie took a moment to gather his thoughts and realize that, yes, the mother of Richie’s daughter and said daughter had just caught him in his underwear and Richie’s shirt while Richie was still sleeping like a baby in the bedroom.

“Where’s daddy?” Elizabeth asked, looking up at her mother and then looking at Eddie. “And why’s the doctor here? Is daddy sick?”

“Dad is fine, sweetheart.” Olivié reassured her with a warm smile, glancing at Eddie with a knowing smirk on her face. “Eddie is a friend of daddy’s.”

Elizabeth squinted her eyes and then pointed a threatening, small index finger at Eddie. “No more needles.”

Eddie couldn’t help but smile at her chuckled softly as he offered Olivié what was originally meant to be Richie’s mug of coffee. “No more needles.” He agreed.

Effie smiled, and instead of a threatening pointing finger she gave him a thumb up.

Eddie could have worked with a thumb up.

Richie and him definitely needed to talk, but that bliss of ignorance didn’t feel that bad, after all. That way, it was easier to pretend that everything was going to be alright.

But how could things have gone alright when a kid was running to the bedroom, yelling for her daddy, and he was being left alone in the living room with the woman that his ex boyfriend had had a child with?

**Author's Note:**

> I'd LOVE to know what you think about it, so just leave a comment if you want or drop an ask on tumblr! My username is @Tozier-boy 
> 
> my reddie soul salutes you for now


End file.
